The Haunting of Carol and Daryl Dixon
by Caryl Warrior
Summary: When Carol and Daryl decide to take a vacation in a remote cabin, they never dreamed they'd fall prey to a vengeful spirit they may not let they leave alive.


"Do you like it?" Daryl wrapped his arms around his wife from behind and pulled her against him.

"I love it." Carol turned in his arms wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning up so she could kiss him.

They had rented a small cabin in the middle of the Blue Ridge Mountains for the week. It was overlooking a lake that would be perfect for swimming and fishing. They had gotten married a few months ago and they both have been working so much that they hadn't been able to take any time off for honeymoon.

So, when Carol saw the advertisement for a rustic vacation cabin, she knew it was the perfect opportunity for them to get away from everything and relax. They both took the week off work and arranged for her eight-year-old daughter, Sophia to stay with her friend Andrea. She would soon be Daryl's daughter too; just as soon, the adoption went through. She had already started calling him dad even before they had gotten married, so the adoption was just a formality because he was already her dad in all the ways that mattered.

"Just think," she snuggled into his arms. "A whole week, not going to work, no interruptions. Just you and me, all alone. We don't even have to wear clothes if we don't want to."

Daryl chuckled and pulled her tighter. "Sounds good to me. Lets get started right now."

He reached down, grabbed her legs and tossed her over his shoulder as he ran towards the house.

"Daryl," she giggled. "Put me down!" She playfully slapped at his back.

"Nope," he said, making his way to the bedroom.

Carol laughed some more and reached down to grab a handful of his ass since she was at the perfect angle to do so.

"Hey," he squawked indignantly, giving her a sharp slap on her own ass which caused her to laugh even harder.

They finally made it to bedroom. He kicked the door shut and tossed her onto to bed, causing her to bounce.

He pulled off his shirt and stalked towards her.

They lay sprawled on the bed, covered in sheen of sweat. Carol had her head laying against Daryl's chest.

"I think you broke me," he said, running his fingers through her hair.

"You'd better not be. I have plans for you later." She sat up and straddled his hips, leaning down to kiss him.

"Keep that up and I'm sure I'll recover."

She rolled off him. "Okay, but I'm going to need something to eat first. I'm starving."

"We left all the food and stuff in the car. Good thing we put it in a cooler."

"Let's go." She sat up and grabbed his shirt from the bed post, pulling it on.

"I got it, you stay here." He grabbed his pants from the dresser where Carol and tossed them when she yanked them off of him earlier.

"Okay. I'll just light the stove and wash those pans I saw on the counter. Who's knows when they washed last."

Daryl grabbed the duffle bag that contained their clothes, though he had a feeling they wouldn't be needing them, and threw it over his shoulder along with the two grocery bags. He was reaching for the cooler when he heard it.

" _Help me!"_

He whirled around expecting to see Carol, but she wasn't there.

" _Please!"_

The voice called out again. It seemed to be coming from far away, but it sounded like it was right next to him at the same time.

"Hello?" he called. "Is somebody there?"

" _Please. You have to help me."_

"Daryl."

He turned to see Carol leaning against the door.

"Is everything okay?" she asked, furrowing her brow. She had walked out onto the porch and saw him staring off into space. It seemed like he was looking at something, or that he had heard something.

"Everything's fine. Just enjoying the view." There was no way he was telling her about the voice. It was probably just his imagination, anyway. "Let's get inside, it looks like it's about to storm." He looked to see storm clouds rolling in off the top of the mountain.

Carol looked up and shivered slightly. "I'd better make sure there's oil in the lamps and batteries in the flashlights." She walked in the door, with Daryl close behind her.

"Hey." Daryl reached around her to grab a piece of tomato off the cutting board. "What we having?"

"BLTs and French fries."

"Sounds good." He planted a kiss on her cheek. "I'm gonna grab some of that firewood from out back. Build us nice fire."

"Great. I've always wanted to make love in front of a roaring fire," she said as he walked away.

He stopped when he reached the door and turned back to her. "You're gonna kill my ass this week. You know that?"

She chuckled. "Hurry back. The sooner you we eat the sooner we can get to other things."

"Yes, ma'am." He walked out the door leaving it cracked slightly.

Carol turned to the stove to take the bacon out of the frying pan.

 _Nice and crispy, just the way I like it._

She pulled the fries out of the oven and replaced them with the bread so she could toast it.

She turned to grab the knife from the cutting board so she could cut the sandwiches after she put them together, but it wasn't there.

 _That's weird. I could have sworn I left it there. It's not in the sink either._

She looked around on the floor. It couldn't have just disappeared.

She got so distracted looking for the knife that she almost let the toast burn. She pulled it out just as Daryl was coming through the door with the firewood. He walked to the living room and dumped it on the floor next to the fireplace.

"What's wrong?" he asked when he saw the look on her face.

"I can't find the knife."

"What knife?"

"The one I was using to chop the tomato. I thought I left it on the cutting board, but now I can't find it."

"You mean this one?" he picked up the missing knife off the end table and held it up.

"How did it get there?"

He walked over to her and laid it on the counter. "You didn't bring it there?"

"No." She shook her head. "I didn't even leave the room."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," she snapped. "I think I would remember taking it in there and leaving it."

"Hey, calm down." He wrapped his arms around her. "I didn't mean nothing by it. I was just asking." He placed a kiss on her forehead. "I'm sure there's a logical explanation for it." He briefly considered telling her about the voice he had heard outside, but that would probably just scare her and he didn't want to ruin their vacation. It was probably just the wind, anyway. As for the knife, she probably did carry it in there by accident without thinking about it. Just last week he had left the remote control in the fridge.

"Sorry," she said. "Didn't mean to snap at you."

"Don't worry about it. Lets just eat dinner and then I'll make love to you in front of the fire just like you wanted."

"I love you," she said, giving him a kiss.

"Love you, too. Now, sit down and I'll fix our plates." He patted her on the butt and pushed her towards the table.

After making love in front of the fireplace, they slept in a tangle of limbs and blankets. Carol woke a few hours later, not wanting to get up but her bladder had other ideas. She carefully extracted herself from Daryl's arms, being careful not to wake him. He mumbled some gibberish in his sleep and rolled over.

While she was washing her hands in the sink, she glanced in the mirror and saw a reflection that was not her own – this woman had long dark hair and was wearing all white. She had deep purple bruises around her neck. As if some had choked her.

" _Please,"_ she pleaded.

Carol quickly reached for the light switch and flipped on the light. The woman was gone. Carol reached out and brought her finger tips to mirror. She jerked them back quickly as if she was afraid that some entity would reach out grab her.

That wasn't real. It couldn't be. Things like that didn't happen. Maybe it was a waking dream. She remembered her grandmother telling things like that happened sometimes. She was so busy staring at the mirror that she didn't hear him come up behind her.

She shrieked and jumped nearly falling in the floor when he put his hand on her shoulder.

"Whoa," said Daryl, grabbing her wrists when she starting swinging, not yet realizing it was him. "It's me."

She stopped when she realized it was him. "You scared me."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I said your name twice but you were just staring in the mirror. What's so interesting about it?"

Carol glanced back at mirror. "I thought I saw…nothing. I'm just tired."

He gave her a curious look but didn't question her. "Yeah, me too. Let's get in bed, that floor ain't too comfortable."

He turned off the light and followed her down the hall. They crawled into bed and he wrapped his arms around her, kissing her lightly on the lips. "Hey, tomorrow how about we drive down and have breakfast at the diner we saw? We can rent some fishing poles and we can have fish for dinner tomorrow."

"I thought you packed the poles," she said sleepily while yawning.

"Nah. Forgot them. Left them sitting in the garage."

"Sounds good," she mumbled, snuggling into his chest. "Goodnight."

"'Night," he said, kissing the top of her head.

 _He found himself standing outside on the porch. How did he get out here? He was in bed asleep next to Carol._

 _He needed to get back to her. She was in danger. He didn't know how he knew that, he just did. He grabbed the door knob, but it wouldn't open. He pulled harder on it. It still wouldn't budge._

" _It's no use. It's already too late. You can't save her now. He's already here."_

 _He whirled around to see a dark figure of a man standing at the end of the porch._

" _Who are you? What have you done with Carol?"_

" _It's not me. It's him. If he can't have her, nobody can."_

" _You have to help me save her." He started pulling on the door again._

" _I can't. You're the only one that can save her now."_

 _The door finally opened. He ran down the hall and ripped the bedroom door open._

 _Carol lay on the bed, her lifeless eyes staring at the ceiling. He grabbed her in his arms and pulled her against him._

" _Carol," He pleaded. "Please, wake up." He shook her, but her lifeless body fell backwards in his arms. "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"_

"Daryl, wake up! Wake up!"

He bolted upright, covered in a sheen of sweat and tangled in the sheets. He turned to see Carol sitting up staring at him with a worried look on her face. "Are you okay?" she reached for him but he beat her to it, grabbing her and pulling her against him.

"Hey, it's okay." She said stroking his hair. She pulled back slightly. "That must have been some nightmare."

"Yeah," he mumbled, finally letting her go.

"What was it about?"

He shuddered thinking about it. "Nothing. I don't remember."

She wasn't sure she believed him but she accepted it. He would talk about it when he was ready. "Alright, let's get some sleep." She kissed his forehead and pulled him down so his head was against her chest. She stroked his hair until he fell asleep.

They pulled in front of the diner about nine o'clock the next morning. Carol was worried about Daryl. After he had that nightmare he hadn't sleep well. She hadn't either. She was thinking about the woman in the mirror, but mostly she was worried about Daryl. He had nightmares before but nothing like last night. They never left him pale, shaking and unable to sleep. It must been terrible if he didn't want to tell her about it.

"I'm going across the street to get us some fishing poles. Will you order me something?"

"Sure," she said. "See you in a few minutes."

She walked in and a waitress standing at the counter called to her. "Take a seat, anywhere honey. I'll be with you in a minute."

Carol took a seat at the counter, picked up a menu, and began looking through. "Do you know what you want?"

She looked to see the waitress standing in front of her. Her nametag read 'Jacqui'.

"Yes. I'll have two large glasses of orange juice, two coffees and two of the breakfast platters."

"Think you can eat all that?" she asked with a smile and passed the order on to the man in the kitchen.

Carol laughed. "My husbands across the street renting some fishing poles."

Jacqui poured two cups of coffee and grabbed a pitcher of orange juice from a small fridge behind the counter.

"Are you on vacation?" she asked, filling the glasses with juice.

"It's sort of a honeymoon/vacation. We're renting that cabin down by the lake. It's owned by a man named Dale Holvath" she said, taking a sip of juice.

Jacqui gasped and nearly dropped the pitcher. Carol reached out to steady her arm. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, dear." She put the pitcher away. "Just a little slippery." She walked away to take an order from a man sitting at the end of the counter.

Carol watched her for a few seconds.

 _How strange,_ she thought _._ She didn't have long to ponder before Daryl came in and took a seat next to her. He picked up the coffee and took a sip.

"Hey," she greeted him. "Did you get the poles?"

"Yeah, I got them." He picked up the container of sugar and dumped a large amount into his coffee. "The guy at the shop got all weird on me, though."

"Really? Why?" she said, taking drink from her own coffee.

"I told him where we were staying and he got this weird look his face."

"Did he say why?"

"Nope. Just told me good luck and took off in the back of the store."

"The waitress did the same when I told her. I'm going to ask her about it."

"Don't do that."

She ignored him. "Excuse me," she called.

Jacqui walked over to her. "What do you need?"

"Do you know anything about the cabin we're staying at?"

"Oh, sweetie. You don't want to know about that. It'll just upset you."

"Please. If there's something we should know, could you please tell us. We're going to be there for a week."

"Well, okay," she began.

"Order up," a voice called from the kitchen.

"Hang on a minute. I'll get your food and I'll tell you everything you want to know."

"It was about nine or ten years ago," Jacqui began. They had moved to a booth at the back of the diner so they could talk more comfortably.

"There was this couple that stayed there on vacation just like you two. What were their names?" She stopped for a minute to think. "Rick and Lori Grimes. They rented the cabin for a week but they didn't show back up at home. The police went up there to check on them and…they were dead."

Carol covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh my god."

"What happened to them?" asked Daryl.

"They were murdered. It was an ex-lover of the woman. The story goes that they were having an affair and she broke it off and he killed them both in a jealous rage. He drowned the husband in the lake and the woman, well-he strangled her before killing himself."

"Jesus Christ," said Daryl, running his hand over his face. He looked at Carol. She looked pale. "Hey, are you okay?" He wrapped his arm around her.

"I'm fine. I just need to go to the bathroom." She slid out of the booth and walked towards the bathroom.

"I'm sorry," said Jacqui. "I shouldn't have said anything."

Daryl shook his head. "Not your fault." He pulled out his wallet and took out enough money to pay for their breakfast, plus a tip. "She'll be alright."

"I wish they would just board that place up. That place isn't right. No one ever stays there for more than a night or two and they always leave in the middle of night with no explanation."

"Really?"

"Yep. I better get back to work. You two be careful," she said as she walked away.

Carol climbed into the truck beside Daryl. "Feeling any better now?"

She nodded. "A little bit."

He backed up the truck and pulled onto the road, and heading back towards the cabin.

"Do you want stay?" he asked after a few minutes.

"What?"

"The cabin. If you want to leave, it's okay."

"No. I mean it's scary and horrible what happened. But it was a long time ago. And I don't want to ruin our trip."

"You wouldn't be ruining anything. We can go somewhere else."

"No. Let's stay."

"You're sure?"

"Yes, I promise. It'll be fine."

"Okay. But if you change your mind, you let me know."

She reached over and grabbed his hand. "I will."

"Look at all of them," exclaimed Carol, holding up the string of fish they had caught.

"Damn, we'll be eating good tonight. We'll have enough for tonight _and_ tomorrow. Do you want to eat them now or for supper?"

"Let's wait till tonight so I can make some fried potatoes and cornbread to go with it."

"Damn. Are you sure you can't cook that right now?"

"Yes. I'll go make us some sandwiches to hold us over."

"Fine," he said. "I'll go get these cleaned," he said, walking towards the back of the cabin.

Carol smiled. She was already feeling better. What happened here was tragic, but she wasn't going to let it spoil her time with Daryl.

Carol came back out on the porch and sat a tray of lemonade and sandwiches on the table. Since it was such a nice day, she thought they could eat out on the porch.

Now, where was Daryl? He should have been done with those fish by now. She walked down the steps and was about to walk around the back of the cabin to get him when she saw something floating in the water.

 _What is…Oh my God! Daryl!_

She tore down the path leading to the dock and dove into the water. She swam as fast as could toward Daryl.

 _Oh god._

He was floating face down. She grabbed him and turned him over. His lips were blue. She had to hurry. She managed to hold onto Daryl with one arm and swim to the bank with her other arm. Somehow she managed to pull him out and get him onto the ground.

She placed her finger on his throat. No pulse.

 _Oh god._

He wasn't breathing, either. She tilted his head back and opened his mouth and gave him two quick breaths. She sat up straight and started chest compressions.

"Come on." She checked for a pulse again.

She gave him two more breaths. "Daryl, please, come on. Breathe. Please don't die."

Still no pulse. He was gone. She collapsed into the grass and started sobbing.

 _He can't be gone. This can't real._

"Carol, what are doing?"

Carol jerked her head up to see Daryl running towards her. _What? How?_

She looked back at the grass. Daryl's body wasn't there now. It was all in her head. She jumped and ran towards and wrapped herself around him. "You're okay," she sobbed into his neck.

"I'm okay." He stroked her hair. "What happened? Why are you all wet?"

"You were in the lake. You were drowning. You were dead."

Daryl didn't know what to make of this. All he could do was comfort her. "I didn't drown. I'm not dead. I'm fine. You're fine," he said, continuing to rub the back of her head.

She nodded against his chest.

"Come on," he said, pulling her along with him. "Let's get you into some dry clothes."

She didn't seem to want to move so he picked her up and carried her back to the cabin.

After getting her into some warm clothes and calming her down, he was able to get the whole story out of her. She had walked out onto the porch and saw what she thought was him drowning in the lake. She even said she pulled his body out and gave him CPR.

He wished he could say something to explain what happened, but he just couldn't. So he told her about the dream he had about her the night before and the voice he had heard calling to him.

She told him about the woman she had seen in the mirror. There was no rational explanation for what happened – at least none that they could think of. After discussing it for a few minutes they decided they just wanted to go home. They were both too tired to drive home right now. So they would sleep here tonight and drive home first thing in the morning.

They had been asleep for a few hours when something woke her up. She shook Daryl awake.

"What's wrong?" he croaked, his voice hoarse from sleep.

"I heard something."

He sat up in the bed. "What did it sound like?"

"Like someone pounding on the door."

She jumped when they heard it again. It sounded like someone was trying to break down the door.

Daryl slipped out of bed, Carol close behind him.

"Stay close," he whispered.

They opened the door as quietly as they could and walked silently into the hall. It was quiet now.

When they reached the end of the hall, they heard the sound of shattering glass. They stopped and Daryl made a shushing gesture with his finger. He grabbed Carol's hand lead her down the hallway. He really wished he had his crossbow.

They looked around, but there was no broken glass anywhere. They looked into living room. They were both startled when they saw the silhouettes of a man and a woman holding hands.

" _You have to hurry,"_ said the man. _"He's almost here."_

" _Before it's too late,"_ pleaded the woman.

Before they could question what they were seeing the temperature in the room suddenly dropped. It was so cold they could actually see their breath.

" _He's here,"_ cried the woman.

Carol and Daryl turned towards the shady figure of a man cloaked in darkness in the corner of the room.

The man shoved the woman behind him. _"You stay the hell away from_ _her."_

The man started walking towards them, a murderess glint in his eyes. Daryl grabbed Carol's hand and dragged her through the kitchen and out the front door. He didn't know what the hell was going on but they were getting the hell out of here right now.

They drove for four hours but they finally made it home at about four in the morning. They fell into bed and slept for twelve hours straight.

A couple days later Daryl and Merle drove back up the cabin to pick up his and Carol's things. Not that he was afraid to go back up their by himself.

 _Okay, maybe I'm a little afraid._

But he really just wanted some company for the drive. And there was no way he was bringing Carol back up here.

When he told Merle about what happened, he laughed his ass off about Daryl believing in ghosts and being afraid of a cabin in the woods. Daryl didn't care, he knew what happened and so did Carol. They didn't need anyone else to believe them. But the next time they took a vacation they were going to the beach.


End file.
